Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Passionate about what matters? (video)

Seth Aubeorn, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Debbie (Sane Progressive) with Lee Camp
"Imagine if everyone were this passionate about things that actually matter."



The "lesser of two evils"?
(Sane Progressive) It's a false argument the media repeats.

NOTE: The audio sync is a bit off in the beginning, but it levels off. Stay with it. Debbie talks about liberal hypocrisy. Are we supporting the DEEDS of Hillary Clinton compared to Donald Trump's WORDS? These LINKS back up all of the claims in this short video, so before any of us pretend that these truths are untrue, click through:
May I touch it, Donny? I'll be selected president, I was promised it! I mean elected.

Might the Don Trump actually be as bald as the wig-wearing Hill Rod-Clint?

(CS) Nothing is as it seems. We're being lied to. Don't believe us, do some research.
But what really matters is not worldliness
OMG, vote for Hillary, guys.
Who cares if corrupt politics and politicians come to power? What really matters are edifying truths that set us free, that lead to wisdom, compassion, and complete liberation.

Are there such truths? The Four Noble Truths are four ennobling truths in that insight into them, founded on the profound mental stability of the absorptions, breaks us free from illusions. If the truth sets us free, what are the lies and illusions doing to us now?

Buddhism: A Method of Mind Training
Leonard Bullen, Bodhi Leaves 42 (accesstoinsight.org) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

When we hear something about Buddhism in the daily news, we usually think of it having a background of huge idols and yellow-robed monastics, with a thick atmosphere of incense fumes. We never feel that there is anything in it for us except, maybe, an exotic spectacle.
 
But is that all there is in Buddhism? Do the news photographers take pictures of the real Buddhism? Do the glossy magazines show us the fundamentals or only some of the externals?
 
Let us see, then, what Buddhism really is -- Buddhism as it was originally expounded and as it still exists underneath the external trappings and trimmings.
 
Although generally regarded as a religion, Buddhism is basically a method of cultivating the mind/heart. 

It is true that, with its monastic tradition and its emphasis on ethical factors, it possesses many of the surface characteristics that Westerners associate with "religion."

Oh yeah, b, we're queens, the best rubber ball bouncers! (mail.com/sbnation.com)
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However, it is not theistic because it affirms that the universe is governed by impersonal laws (regularities) and not by any creator-God; it has no use for petitionary prayer, for the Buddha was a teacher and not a god (deva or brahma); and it regards devotion NOT as a religious obligation but as a means of expressing gratitude to its founder and as a means of self-development. Thus it is not a religion at all from these points of view.
 
Again, Buddhism knows faith only in the sense of confidence in the way recommended by the Buddha. A Buddhist is not expected to have faith or to believe in anything merely because the Buddha said it, or because it is written in the ancient books, or because it has been handed down by tradition, or because others believe it.

He may, of course, agree with himself to take the Buddha-doctrine as a working hypothesis and to have confidence in it; but he is not expected to accept anything unless his reason accepts it. This does not mean that everything can be demonstrated rationally.

For many points lie beyond the scope of the intellect and can be cognized only by the development of higher faculties. But the fact remains that there is no need for blind acceptance of anything in the Buddha-doctrine. More

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